1981 European Tour
The 1981 European Tour was the 10th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour and organised by the Professional Golfers' Association.
| Duration | 23 April 1981 – 4 October 1981 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 22 |
| Most wins | 2:.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Seve Ballesteros Bernhard Langer Sandy Lyle.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Greg Norman Manuel Piñero |
| Official Money List | Bernhard Langer |
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year |  Jeremy Bennett |
← 1980 1982 → | |
The Official Money List was won by West Germany's Bernhard Langer.
Changes for 1981
There were several changes from the previous season, with the addition of the Lawrence Batley International,[1] and the loss of the Newcastle Brown "900" Open and the Merseyside International Open.
Rule changes
The local rule that had been introduced on the tour in 1976 which allowed spike marks to be repaired was rescinded, and a local rule that prohibited touching of the line of a putt with a club was introduced.[2]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1981 season. The season was made up of 22 tournaments counting for the Official Money List, and some non-counting tournaments later known as "Approved Special Events".[3][2]
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Unofficial events
The following events were sanctioned by the European Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (£) |
Winner(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Sep | Ryder Cup | England | n/a |  Team USA |
Two 12-man teams |
| 11 Oct | Suntory World Match Play Championship | England | 100,000 | Seve Ballesteros |
12-player field |
| 18 Oct | Trophée Lancôme | France | 45,000 | David Graham |
|
| 25 Oct | Cacharel World Under-25 Championship | France | n/a | Tim Simpson |
Official Money List
The PGA European Tour's money list was known as the "Official Money List". It was based on prize money earned during the season and calculated in Pound sterling.
| Position | Player | Prize money (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernhard Langer | 81,036 |
| 2 | Nick Faldo | 48,109 |
| 3 | Sandy Lyle | 44,732 |
| 4 | Greg Norman | 44,254 |
| 5 | Manuel Piñero | 39,640 |
| 6 | Sam Torrance | 36,012 |
| 7 | Seve Ballesteros | 35,154 |
| 8 |  Des Smyth | 29,105 |
| 9 | Eamonn Darcy | 25,805 |
| 10 | José María Cañizares | 25,529 |
Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year | Jeremy Bennett |
Notes
- The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names show the number of official career wins they had on the European Tour up to and including that event. Totals are only shown for members of the European Tour and are inclusive of the three United States-based major championships which were included on the schedule for the first time in 1998, with earlier editions having retrospectively been recognised as official tour wins. Victories in "Approved Special Events" are not recognised as official tour wins.
- Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.
References
- "Chairman's tournament". The Times. London, England. 16 December 1980. p. 22. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- Plumridge, Christopher (17 December 1980). "Putting an end to Europe's spiky problem". The Guardian. London, England. p. 21. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Jacobs, Raymond (17 December 1980). "Putting an end to Europe's spiky problem". Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 17. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.